Lower abdomen mystery injury

[skywalkrNCSU]

Hoping someone here can give me any idea of the type of injury I have as I've been to a few doctors, had an MRI done, and so far they are all stumped.

I have had this pain for a while but it hasn't been that bad until the past month or so. The pain is in my lower abdomen and especially hurts when I pick up anything heavy or sit down or stand up from a sitting position. Basically anything where I brace my abdomen.

Like I said it was hurting for a long time but more just an annoyance than anything and I continued to lift throughout. Recently I did some squats for the first time in a long time (recovering from a quad injury, yeah I'm falling apart) and the next day was when the pain really hit and has been pretty rough since. I obviously have stopped lifting and it's gotten somewhat better but anything I do that is semi athletic just gets me right back to where I was before.

I don't know exactly what they can/can't see in the MRI but that was clear. I am pretty tight all over so I have been doing some light leg and back stretches but not sure if that will help this issue at all.

Any ideas?

[WillBrink]

Hoping someone here can give me any idea of the type of injury I have as I've been to a few doctors, had an MRI done, and so far they are all stumped.

I have had this pain for a while but it hasn't been that bad until the past month or so. The pain is in my lower abdomen and especially hurts when I pick up anything heavy or sit down or stand up from a sitting position. Basically anything where I brace my abdomen.

Like I said it was hurting for a long time but more just an annoyance than anything and I continued to lift throughout. Recently I did some squats for the first time in a long time (recovering from a quad injury, yeah I'm falling apart) and the next day was when the pain really hit and has been pretty rough since. I obviously have stopped lifting and it's gotten somewhat better but anything I do that is semi athletic just gets me right back to where I was before.

I don't know exactly what they can/can't see in the MRI but that was clear. I am pretty tight all over so I have been doing some light leg and back stretches but not sure if that will help this issue at all.

Any ideas?

So hernia was ruled out?

[skywalkrNCSU]

So hernia was ruled out?

Yeah should have mentioned, totally ruled out. Did an ultrasound on that too and nothing.

[Hmac]

I saw that happen once. Hard to diagnose - that patient got shuttled from doctor to doctor to the point where they started talking about seeing a psychologist. Ultimately turned out to be a sacral stress fracture. Those are generally best diagnosed with CT scanning, but in my patient that wasn't helpful. Nor is MRI typically helpful. IIRC, I finally made the diagnosis via a bone scan.

[skywalkrNCSU]

I saw that happen once. Hard to diagnose - that patient got shuttled from doctor to doctor to the point where they started talking about seeing a psychologist. Ultimately turned out to be a sacral stress fracture. Those are generally best diagnosed with CT scanning, but in my patient that wasn't helpful. Nor is MRI typically helpful. IIRC, I finally made the diagnosis via a bone scan.

Ouch, I definitely hope that's not it. The pain certainly feels more muscular than in any bone area but who knows. Would an MRI show a muscle pull/strain? They used contrast as well.

Probably unrelated but I'll throw it out there anyways but the hernia ultrasound showed some enlarged lymph nodes on both sides of my groin at just below the belt.

[jpmuscle]

Ouch, I definitely hope that's not it. The pain certainly feels more muscular than in any bone area but who knows. Would an MRI show a muscle pull/strain? They used contrast as well.

Probably unrelated but I'll throw it out there anyways but the hernia ultrasound showed some enlarged lymph nodes on both sides of my groin at just below the belt.

Funny you mention that. My GF went through a similar issue post gyno related surgery. Long story short at present she has an enlarged lymphnode on her right side that is causing her discomfort similar to a hernia. At first they thought it was hernia, possibly a femoral hernia IIRC, since she actually lifts. Ruled all that out but they still don't know why the lymphode is enlarged to the point of causing discomfort.

[skywalkrNCSU]

Funny you mention that. My GF went through a similar issue post gyno related surgery. Long story short at present she has an enlarged lymphnode on her right side that is causing her discomfort similar to a hernia. At first they thought it was hernia, possibly a femoral hernia IIRC, since she actually lifts. Ruled all that out but they still don't know why the lymphode is enlarged to the point of causing discomfort.

Well now that is odd, I didn't expect any response like that. The doc I saw that was more of a hernia specialist said they could pull some cells or something from the lymph node to run some tests but they would want me to go to a urologist first. I am on a two week antibiotics course to see if there is some sort of infection so hopefully that clears it up a bit.

[Hmac]

Ouch, I definitely hope that's not it. The pain certainly feels more muscular than in any bone area but who knows. Would an MRI show a muscle pull/strain? They used contrast as well.

Probably unrelated but I'll throw it out there anyways but the hernia ultrasound showed some enlarged lymph nodes on both sides of my groin at just below the belt.

No, muscle strain won't show up on MRI unless it's severe.

Lymph nodes in the groin are common, they will be directly tender, wouldn't usually cause pain on straining. Fine needle aspiration might be useful for diagnosing some types of cancer, not really useful for benign inflammation. As to hernias...ultrasound of the inguinal canal can be problematic, being highly dependent on technique and skill of the tech. False negatives are not uncommon.

[muzzlebraker453]

i once met someone who had pain in his stomach and when after seeking a Dr help and scanning. they found out a scissor was t his stomach, a surgeon forgot in in his stomach on a previous surgery.

[skywalkrNCSU]

No, muscle strain won't show up on MRI unless it's severe.

Lymph nodes in the groin are common, they will be directly tender, wouldn't usually cause pain on straining. Fine needle aspiration might be useful for diagnosing some types of cancer, not really useful for benign inflammation. As to hernias...ultrasound of the inguinal canal can be problematic, being highly dependent on technique and skill of the tech. False negatives are not uncommon.

I did get to go through the turn and cough routine with three docs, one being a hernia specialist and they couldn't find anything. The specialist said that if I did have one it would be small and wouldn't cause the level of pain I've been in. I'm hoping that's true because I'd rather not have to go through that surgery though it would be nice to know for sure what it is.